Fr Ivan Levytsky is a cleric of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Berdyansk, Zaporizhzhia; a member of the Redemptorist congregation, and priest of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
With the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and occupation of Berdyansk, he decided to stay in the city.
On 16 November 2022, communication with him and another Redemptorist priest, Fr Bohdan Heleta, was lost. On the following day, it became known about their detention by Russian special services. On 23 November 2022, Russian media began to report that the Russian Guard allegedly found weapons and explosives on the territory of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in the cellar of the priests’ house. At that time, a video of Fr Levytsky’s interrogation was published online; there, the consequences of physical and mental exhaustion were visible in his appearance.
The priest is still in captivity, his whereabouts are unknown.
